71-year-old reporter is fourth Mexican journalist murdered in six weeks

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A Mexican journalist was shot dead while parking his car accompanied by his wife, becoming the fourth journalist killed in just a month and a half in Mexico.

The murder took place at midday in the city of La Paz, in the north-western Mexican state of Baja California Sur. The journalist, identified as Max Rodriguez Palacios, 71, who worked at for newspaper Colectivo Pericu, was parking his car in a disabled parking space and was asking for a wheelchair in order to help his wife to get out of the car, as she has mobility problems.

The newspaper said in a press statement that a group of armed men in a white pick-up vehicle approached them and shot at the couple, killing the journalist. According to reports, at least 15 shots were fired.

He had been in charge of reporting on crime for the local newspaper. His wife was not injured during the shooting.

Hermenegilda Vargas, the Director of Colectivo Pericu, has asked for the authorities to investigate the case, especially the prosecution in charge of the investigation into freedom expression crimes. They are reportedly currently investigating the case.

The Association of Journalists has condemned the killing and reported how risky the situation is the state of Baja California Sur.

The journalist also worked as a spokesman for the prosecution and the court of Baja California Sur as well as being correspondent for local media on crimes and police information.

Over the last few months the violence against journalists in this state has surged.

In March, the journalist Julio Omar Gomez Sanchez was the victim of a terror attack in San Jose del Cabo, but fortunately he was not injured, but his bodyguard was killed during the shooting.

Gomez Sanchez had just left the profession of journalist after his house and his vehicle were burned in December and in February. The journalist reported the incidents to police and asked for protection, which finally saw him assigned a bodyguard.

In total, four journalists have been killed in Mexico since early March. The most notorious case was that of a correspondent for the La Jornada newspaper, in Chihuahua, northern Mexico. Miroslava Breach was shot at least eight times in front of her house.